John Scofield Returns To The Scene Of The Jam

John Scofield's latest album is the genre-fluid, continent hopping Uberjam Deux.

Frank Stefan Kimmel
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Courtesy of the artist

If you sample the first few notes of guitarist John Scofield's new album, Uberjam Deux, you might mistake it for something out of West Africa. But a spin through the tracks takes you to another hemisphere with a sound right out of Jamaica, then to American shores with a soulful homage to Al Green.

The musical paths may be well-trodden, but the sound of Scofield's guitar is unique. He's a player with serious jazz cred, having played with everyone from Miles Davis to Charles Mingus to Herbie Hancock. The first Überjam record was released in 2002, and for Überjam Deux he's brought back some of the original players, including rhythm guitarist Avi Bortnick and B3 Organ player John Medeski. Scofield speaks here with NPR's Linda Wertheimer; click the audio link to hear more of their conversation.